TalCual: Venezuelan Government Loses More Credibility
A feature that defines the Maduro administration is the lack of credibility. The reaction on the streets of most Venezuelans confirms this. They don’t believe a word government spokespersons say. The word of Nicolás Maduro, and that of the rest of the members of his government, has less value than the "strong" bolívar currency

By TalCual

At TalCual we have always condemned the use of violence as a method for settling political differences. That is one of the reasons why we have always opposed chavismo, which was born from a coup in 1992 seeking to remove a president elected by the majority of Venezuelans, even making an attempt on his life. That same chavismo that celebrates and exalts that first coup every year, and its re-release nine months later.

That is why we condemn what happened last Saturday on Bolívar Avenue in Caracas. Whoever is responsible for this event deserves and has our rejection. This is not the way, although it is true that the Government has been closing all the routes for a political solution to the dispute going on in the country. Despite all this it is necessary to avoid, discard, the violent way. There is no need to emulate chavismo.

As to the alleged attack on Nicolás Maduro, there are several things that call our attention. In the first place, we find strange that a military parade had taken place on Bolívar Avenue, since it is the first time in history that such a place has been used for an activity of this kind. Also, the contradiction between the versions of ministers Néstor Reverol and Jorge Rodríguez on the presence of two or three drones, as narrated separately. Then a single story suddenly was unified: there were only two.

What we don’t find strange is the casualness with which Maduro has accused former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos of having participated in the plot. Neither the speed nor daringness with which the alleged confessions from detainees were disclosed, probably obtained through unorthodox methods.

This is a feature that defines the Maduro administration: the lack of credibility. The reaction on the streets of most Venezuelans confirms this. Very few have bought the official version. They don’t believe a word government spokespersons say. The word of Maduro, and that of the rest of the members of his government, has less value than the "strong" bolívar currency.

At TalCual, we also doubt the narrative imposed from power with regard to what happened last Saturday. That is why we say an alleged attack, or put it in quotation marks just to make reference to the way those in power say it. All this, in addition, marked by a politicized and biased justice system that responds to the demands of the National Executive. How do you trust a government that violates a gag order, to say the least? We hope that someday there will be a serious, transparent, and careful investigation to fully determine the facts, those responsible for them and the scope. Only then we will remove the word "alleged" since there will be certainties.

Similarly, we believe that this lack of credibility makes the calls of Maduro to peacefully resolve differences with those opposing him totally useless. It is hard to believe that this is the way those in power really want after disregarding the decision of millions of Venezuelans on December 6, 2015, and the vote that elected Andrés Velásquez and Juan Pablo Guanipa as governors of Bolívar and Zulia states in 2017, just to mention only those three cases.

It is hard to believe that those who savagely repressed peaceful demonstrations last year, to the point that several foreign governments are thinking about taking such actions before the International Criminal Court, truly want to play politics and resolve differences through politics.

It is hard to believe in the words of Maduro when he uses the de facto Attorney General and the Supreme Court of Justice to send an opposition lawmaker behind bars, violating his parliamentary immunity without giving him the right to defense. And when everything points to the fact that he is going to use the alleged attack to repress and imprison innocent people.

During a national television broadcast on Tuesday Maduro called for national unity, something that he understands as submission to his orders and not as the search for agreements with those who think differently. Words, to have credibility, have to correspond to facts. Those of Maduro have not complied with this principle for a long time, and we are afraid that it will be no different this time.

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